1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to hand-held optical readers or scanners for reading an indicia such as a bar code symbol, in particular hand-held optical readers or scanners having an ergonomic design.
Another aspect of the invention relates to a housing for an optical scanner or reader having an ergonomic design.
In another aspect the invention relates to a portable computer device and to a housing for a portable computer device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various readers and optical scanning systems have been developed for reading printed indicia such as bar code symbols appearing on a label or the surface of an article and providing information concerning the article such as the price or nature of the article. The bar code symbol itself is a coded pattern of indicia comprised of, for example, a series of bars of various widths spaced apart from one another to form spaces of various widths, the bars and spaces having different light reflecting characteristics. The readers electro-optically transform the graphic indicia into electrical signals which are decoded into alpha-numeric characters that are intended to be descriptive of the article or a characteristic thereof. Such characters typically are represented in digital form, and utilized as an input to a data processing system for applications in point of sale processing, inventory control and the like.
Known scanning systems comprise a light source for generating a light beam incident on a bar code symbol and a light receiver for receiving the reflected light and decoding the information contained in the bar code symbol accordingly. The readers may comprise a flying spot scanning system wherein the light beam is scanned rapidly across a bar code symbol to be read or a fixed field of view reading system wherein the bar code symbol to be read is illuminated as a whole and a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) array is provided for detecting the light reflected from the bar code symbol.
Known hand-held optical readers are often in the shape of a gun having a handle portion and a barrel portion. The reading window through which the light beam passes is generally located at the end face of the barrel portion, and the reader is aimed at the indicia to be read by the operator holding the handle portion. A trigger is situated in the region of the junction between the handle portion and the barrel portion for operation by the user to actuate the optical reader.
It is desired to further improve the known system by introducing an ergonomically designed hand-held reader. Such a reader could be aimed yet more accurately at the indicia to be read, as a result of which the indicia to be read could be located more quickly and read by the reading arrangement correspondingly quickly resulting in a reduction of the time and possibly an extension of the battery life of the reader. In addition, a reader having such an improved shape will be easier to hold by the operator and will, over a long period of time, reduce the operator's discomfort, enabling the operator to use the reader for longer periods of time. As will be seen, therefore, the improved ergonomic design would allow increased efficiency, cost-effectiveness and user-friendliness.
In addition, there are known portable hand-held computers for collecting data and down-loading the data to a central or peripheral device. The down-loaded data may be raw data or data that has been processed within the hand-held computer. Data collection can be carried out by entering information to the hand-held computer via a keypad, or by incorporating in the computer an optical reader for example for reading bar code symbols, or incorporating a reader for reading a magnetic card strip.
For example, when information about various products is required during inventorying, those products may bear bar code symbols or magnetic strips, or have associated magnetic strip cards which are read by the hand-held computer. The data collected can be transferred from the hand-held computer to a central or peripheral device by known means such as radio frequency radio links, wired connections, infra-red communications or other known transmission arrangements.
Often, more than one data capture system is required for a given application. The manufacture of a customized system for a specific application is expensive and difficult to modify if it is subsequently desired to incorporate further data capture options than those originally provided in the customized device.
In another aspect high density or two-dimensional bar code labels have traditionally been used to store a portable data record. A high density system replaces the one-dimensional keyed lookup transaction required by one-dimensional barcode systems.